I just noticed that you can stream many of the Dolly Rockers' songs on Last.fm, including, most importantly, the studio version of "How Did I End Up With You" (or "How Did I End Up With U?" or "How Did I End Up With You?" or "How Did I End Up With U"--Last.fm-concerned me is suffering). While you're there, if you've not listened to them before, give "Gold Digger" a try, too; their debut single, "Je Suis Une Dolly," is good, too, but it has a much more "novelty single" sound. In other news about the British girl group, the picture on Popjustice from a photoshoot with them looks great.
It looks like Måns Zelmerlöw's new single is "Hold On." Good song, although not one of my ultimate favorites on the album. "Forever" is crying out to be a summer single, although maybe that's more in my head than in terms of what Swedish radio would actually play.
This Must Be Pop's discovery Jonas Oakland has a new single out (it should be on international iTunes stores shortly). It's called "Stay," is Swedish disco-dance-pop in the vein of his first single "Beat Of My Heart," and is for sale now. Definitely one that's just for the hardcore Swedish pop addicts, but I thought some people besides me might like to know. Stream it on his website.
Speaking of things you lovers of poppy dance music from Scandinavia are likely to enjoy, I'm so grateful to Scandipop for pointing us all in the direction of Friðrik Ómar's (a.k.a. the male half of Eurobandið and the singer of "Eldur," the second best song in Iceland's 2007 national final) "I Wanna Know." It's another Örlygur "Öggi" Smári (the man behind Páll Óskar's comeback and Eurobandið's "This Is My Life") creation and, though not quite as great as "This Is My Life," it is definitely enjoyable; it also seeks a different vibe, less celebratory and more pensive, saddened but hopeful dance. Listen to it on his MySpace.
I've been playing Cobra Starship's "Good Girls Go Bad," featuring Leighton Meester, a decent bit these past few days. Melismatic's description of the song, "cookie-cutter power-pop emo glitter," is unbeaten.
It's true that by ordering the special edition of Måns Zelmerlöw's second album, MZW, before we had any idea what was "special" about it was probably a case of setting myself up for disappointment. The first difference we heard was the color of the text on the front cover: yellow instead of white (thanks, Aaron).
"OK," I thought to myself, "that's fine, whatever--surely there's got to be more."
When CDOn updated its description of the special edition to say that the content of the special edition was the same as that of the regular edition and that the only difference was that the special edition contained a "more exclusive booklet," I figured that was my dose of disappointment (edit: I should mention that if you buy the iTunes deluxe edition you get acoustic versions of "Hope & Glory," "Cara Mia," and "Maniac," with "Maniac" being the only new release out of those). Sure, I'd paid extra and would have liked some extra music or something, but hey, a more exclusive booklet--that had to mean it was bigger, with more photos or something, right?
Wrong. The booklet included with my newly arrived special edition has to be the same as the regular edition one, considering there's nothing "extra" about it. In fact, the only difference I can find in the entire package is the gold text instead of white text on the front of the CD case and "SPECIAL EDITION" written in small letters in the top left corner of the back of the case (along with a number).
Of course, having my physical copy of the album does mean that if I'd ever had the urge to see Måns strip from a tux to a sleeveless black top before lounging around on stairs and going into a showgirl-accompanied version of the last verse of Robbie Williams's "Kids" in as good a British accent as he can manage, I now have a video of that...though that's on the regular edition too, I presume, since it follows the advertised "Et maintenant" performance. And I can't really say I'd ever felt that urge.
All they really had to do was include that Let's Dance picture of Måns (you know the one) and I would have been happy. Or included a full performance of him doing "Hero," and then I would've been really happy.
Since Måns already posted the writers and producers for the album, the only things credit junkies might be interested to know are that Jeanette Olsson sings backing vocals for "A Stranger Saved My Life," Anna Nordell/Anorah sings backing vocals on "Hope & Glory," "One Minute More," "Saved Again," and "Home," and Dhani Lennevald of the A*Teens--who worked on Hani's good "Wait Forever"--did "co-vocal editing" on "One Minute More" and "Saved Again" (presumably because he's hanging around with Ishi, I think).
The only other Måns news is something I already told Paul about and that Schlagerprofilerna introduced me to: Måns was contacted with the opportunity to appear in the musical Chicago in London's West End. The last thing I read about it was that he hadn't said yes "yet," but I'm not too caught up on my Måns news. I have to echo Schlagerprofilerna's sentiments in saying that that show doesn't feel like the right fit for him--none of roles seem quite right, whereas Schlagerprofilerna's suggestion of the Zac Efron role in Hairspray feels perfect--but I'm hardly going to begrudge all you UK residents the chance to see him live if it ends up happening.
I know blogs about the process of blogging have to be one of the less exciting things I could possibly write about, but here comes another one: I had real trouble deciding which new Shirley Clamp song to post. We've heard the studio version of Sonja Aldén's "Miracle," the English version of "Att älska dig," already as well as Shirley's live performance of the song, so I set aside "Miracle" first.
Choosing between "My Love Light," the English version of "Min kärlek," and "Det finns inga givna svar," the only completely new track on Shirley's new greatest hits album, was the real dilemma. We'd already heard Shirley sing a bit of "My Love Light" live and without musical backing, but we've been waiting years to hear an English version of this song. Sure, the Swedish lyrics of "Min kärlek" are so unbeatable than an English version probably can't beat the original, but has that made us any less interested in hearing an English version of this fantastic song, even if only as a curiosity? "Det finns inga givna svar," on the other hand, has to be the first original uptempo schlager song Shirley's given us in years. Then again, as a song, I don't really know that it can be better than "Min kärlek." Still, even if it won't be challenging my personal Shirley holy trinity of "Min kärlek," "Lever mina drömmar," and "Do They Know It's Christmas," I've been waiting for Shirley to return to this sound and "Det finns inga givna svar" is absolutely a good song--the fact that it's got a dance beat full of hits, sparkles, and swooshes underneath it, breathy "ah-ha" backing vocals, and is catchy enough to get stuck in your head after one listen means it clearly wants to endear itself to schlager fans, and that's always a good thing in my book.
My indecisiveness's result? I'm posting both songs, but only for a short time. Grab "My Love Light" here and "Det finns inga givna svar" here. "Min kärlek" is a modern classic, a schlager song with a surprising musical darkness to it that grows and grows on you until it's buried itself under your skin, so if you haven't heard it before, I strongly recommend checking it out in its original version.
Remember, though, that you can buy För den som älskar - En samling, Shirley's new greatest hits album, here (physical), here (physical), and probably here (digital) within a day or two.
Speaking of buying music, in all my excitement over Måns Zelmerlöw posting songs to his MySpace a week ago, I totally forgot about the existence of track 11 of MZW. If you want to own "Whole New World" or just want to buy the album digitally, you can purchase Måns's new album track by track or as a whole album (as mp3s) here. I was able to buy from it today even though I'm based in the U.S., so you should be able to use that store no matter where you live. Måns also provided comments on each song and the proper list of songwriters on his official website. I'll be writing a bit about the album soon, and about the Melodifestival final (and Erik Hassle...and Lily Allen...).
Next up: maybe more Swedish music with a dance beat.
Last year, I was convinced that the version of Måns Zelmerlöw's "Miss America" being played on Swedish radio, at least some of the time, was different from the version on the album--subtly different, just really with enhanced drums, but I was sure that difference existed. Despite all my searching, though, I couldn't find anything to support that information. The only remixes available at the time were definitely not the version I thought I'd heard: they were all dance versions.
I only just saw that American iTunes has a remix by Grizzly, though, and as soon as I clicked the preview button, I heard louder drums but a still pop--not dance--song. That's got to be it. Why it was released to American digital music stores and not Swedish ones, I've got no idea. Bought it, of course, though it's not better than the original (which I really should have had on my singles countdown last year; just a case of taking him and it for granted).
Måns also appeared on game show Så ska det låta last night. If you've ever wanted to see him sing Linda Bengtzing's "Jag ljuger så bra" (!), Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours," Gyllene Tider's "Sommartider," Björn Afzelius's "Tusen Bitar," "Var ska vi sova inatt" (complete with performance that, if not earth-shattering, is at least literally floor-shattering), Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode," Frank Sinatra's "Come Fly With Me," you can watch the whole hour long show here. I'm sure clips will be on YouTube shortly if they aren't already. He's such a star. And he knows his international political history! Sigh.
Speaking of Måns, I never linked to one of my new favorite pictures of him or the comic strip that had me laughing for quite some time. I wish I lived somewhere where newspapers would publish comics referencing schlager stars. Oh, and CDOn confirmed that the only difference between the regular and deluxe editions of MZW is the booklet; the songs are the same.
Umm...to make this post seem slightly less pointless, did you know '80s Swedish group Secret Service (of "Flash In The Night") have a new single out? It's called "Different" and was an unreleased song unearthed while one member was moving boxes around.
Speaking of remixes and "Flash In The Night," I went on a mini-spree tonight, buying a couple of remixes by the Attic, the duo whose latest single was a cover of that old Secret Service hit but who quality-wise are one of the most reliable presences in the Swedish dance scene. At the end of 2008, Australian singer Candice Alley had her 2003 single "Falling" remixed by the Attic and released in the U.S. The Attic's reworking of the song suits it to a T, with the plaintive but commercial ballad-ish vocal part from Candice melding well with the fairly gentle dance beats underneath it. The other the Attic-related remix I bought was member Michael Feiner's fantastic remix of Daniel Lindström's "Saturday Night" (which is also not new but I've been meaning to buy from iTunes for some time). The song is much more interesting in this interpretation and, like the Attic's remix of "Falling," manages to be fun dance with some moving emotion behind it.
Do you know who's amazing? Commenter Wiola P, who alerted me to the fact that Måns Zelmerlöw had uploaded MZW to his MySpace.
Do you know who's also amazing? Måns. Getting to listen to this album a week earlier than expected is making my day.
"Forever" is dance-tastic. It sports a musical line that my first response to was "that sounds like Basshunter's 'DotA,'" but I've always liked that song anyway. "Freak Out" is so poppy, despite its R&B and electronic influences, and so catchy that I've already got a huge crush on it. "Rewind" answers my prayers by being in the dance direction I hoped but didn't dare expect it would be, and the same could be said for any number of other songs on MZW. In general, the sound seems to be much more grown up, fully fleshed out, modern, and with an electronic bite to it; more international, but still Måns. It's not a schlager album, but, at least in a partial listening, it's the album I was hoping Måns would make, especially once we knew the collaborators.
Given that I'm pressed for time at the moment (skipping class to listen to an album has never sounded so appealing), I can't say more or even listen to all the tracks before I leave (I'll write more when I get back). Let's just say that, after this album, any chance of me escaping Måns's effect on me is pretty much gone.
Buy MZWhere (physical) or here (physical). It comes out next week, but you can preorder it now.
I was reading about Måns Zelmerlöw's upcoming album MZW and was pleased at a few bits of information I hadn't previously heard. Though we already knew that the Fredrik Kempe/Henrik Wikström team was involved (see: "Hope & Glory"), that Ishi was involved, and that "Impossible" was written with Aleena Gibson and Dan Sundquist, there were a few names linked to the album as either writers or producers that were new: Moh Denebi, Jason Gill/David Clewett, and Peter Boström, a.k.a Bassflow! I bet you all can guess which name I'm most excited about.
As for the others, Jason Gill has done many songs, among them Sofia's "Hypnotized," Ola's "Given To Fly" and "My Home" (I know most of you think Ola didn't do anything noteworthy until his second album and I'll agree that's where his music suddenly became amazing, but I do like a few songs from his debut album), but it's one of his most recent pieces of work that I love the most: Darin's "Paradise." David Clewett wasn't a name I was familiar with, but apparently he co-wrote Bananarama's "Move In My Direction." "Move In My Direction" + "Paradise" would be a divine combination, but, much as I'd like it to happen, I can't imagine it will: that would require a.) both songwriters to be living up to their best, and b.) a dancier direction than Måns is probably taking for this album. At least one Gill/Clewett song (I don't know how many there are) is probably "Rewind," which has in a songwriter context been referred to as "Rewind (Back To Summertime)," a fact which probably only interests you if you're desperate for every little bit of information you can get about this album...like me.
Moh Denebi is someone I associate with Dilba (including, coincidentally enough, "Every Little Thing"). His songs often have some of that "ethnic" flair to them and can be kind of R&B.
I've mentioned Ishi and his involvement with this album before. As I said then, he's done work with Petter and Lazee which, at its most interesting, combines hard electro with R&B. "Hold On" is the title of one of the songs on Måns's album and for a second the idea that it was a version of the Lazee and Neverstore track co-written by Ishi crossed my mind, but given that that was a single (and not just an album track like Fredrik Kempe's "Miss America"), it's far too unlikely that Måns would re-use it. I think.
The album is potentially shaping up to be pretty R&B-ish, but I'm going to hold onto the hope that with Måns that will just mean pop with some bite to it. Maybe the best news is that, though Oswalds Popcorn has a middling opinion of the album as a whole, Ken loves "Forever," which is a Fredrik Kempe song. Apparently it's Måns's least favorite song on the album, which is a worrying; granted, I haven't heard it yet, but I hope the (honestly respectable) fourth place finish he pulled on Saturday didn't so disillusion him that he stops working with Fredrik entirely. That would be a real shame.
On the random front, Måns has obviously co-written many songs that haven't made the cut, but, much as I love the idea of him and Johan Bobäck (Elin Lanto's "Speak 'n Spell," Cyndi Lauper's "Into The Nightlife," Darin's "Seasons Fly," Jeanette's "Undress To The Beat") collaborating together, let's be honest: it's probably best that a track with the title "Sexceed" won't be appearing on the album (it was also co-written with Joachim Nilsson, so it could easily not have been on the edgy electro side like I wish it was). Måns said in an interview last fall that he was working with Anders Bagge, but I've not seen any reference to those songs making it onto the album.
One more shameless moment (well, who am I kidding, one more for now.)
When I saw this right after it happened, I was going to take the high road and not post it--you know, stick to my usual high journalistic standards of only subtly ogling ("subtly").
I'm helpless, though, so here we are.
Good, now that's out of my system and we can all move on. Let's be honest, though: since with Måns it really is almost entirely about his striking face, the whole jumping in ice-cold water thing would have been a lot more entertaining if H.E.A.T (or just their drummer, Crash) had lived up to their side of the bargain.
(Neither of these photos really gets him across, though.)
And with any credibility thus destroyed, I'll now return you to your regularly scheduled program.
More vitally important Måns Zelmerlöw news: the tracklisting for MZW, released March 25, is out. There's apparently a special edition out two days later, but CDOn doesn't list any song differences.
1.) Hope And Glory 2.) One Minute More 3.) Freak Out 4.) Impossible (Album Version) 5.) Find Love 6.) Rewind 7.) Forever 8.) Saved Again 9.) Home 10.) A Stranger Saved Me 11.) Whole New World 12.) Hold On 13.) Et Maintenant (Live)
The tracklisting for the "Hope & Glory" single (out March 4), meanwhile, is this:
1.) Hope & Glory 2.) Hope & Glory (PJ Harmony Remix) (oh please let this be as good as the PJ Harmony remix of Andreas Johnson's "A Little Bit Of Love") 3.) Hope & Glory (Chainbreaker Remix by Holter and Erixon) (Oscar Holter? Could be interesting.) 4.) Hope & Glory (Acoustic Version)
I'm sorry for not getting the semifinal preview up yesterday--it's partly done and I'm hoping it'll be up today; if not, I'll make sure it is by tomorrow.
Edit: OH NO...
With a bit more time to think about it, it's only just occurred to me: please, oh please, let "Whole New World" not be Måns singing the original English version of this. If someone thinks we needed that as an ALBUM TRACK, they are crazy.
The fact that he's actually sung it before, albeit in Swedish, has got me worried. Surely they wouldn't put it on an album that's supposedly got R&B influences, though...right? I'm usually from the "the more tracks on the album, the better--I can always just ignore what I don't like" camp, but that would completely throw off the flow, wouldn't it? Put it out as a b-side or something.
He has also performed "Et Maintenant" before (which I didn't realize until Euro Sheep pointed it out). He does it well, though, and looks so lovely doing it that I can't complain, even if, as I said in the comments, Grégory Lemarchal's version is probably always going to be pretty tough to beat in the "reality TV singing contestants performing 'Et Maintenant'" stakes.
To be kind of lazy, let me just steal my own words from the comments.
The really strange thing about Måns having this track on the album is how it works in with that track he mentioned he was considering sending into Melodifestivalen but decided not to because he needed to dance--he said that was a ballad with a French martial beat, which is a pretty accurate description of the song he's covering there, too. Does that mean we're getting another song on the album that's a ballad with a French marching beat (in addition to that last track)? He surely can't have been referring to "Et maintenant," considering he didn't write it and it's not an original track. Maybe he just really likes songs like that...and maybe was inspired by "Et maintenant" on whatever that other track was.
After today's show, my main question is this: when do they start production on mass-produced models of Måns? I want one. Valentine's Day wish?
I'm much more content with this week's results than last week. Well, in one sense, there's a strong similarity between the two weeks: there was one act I was willing to throw everyone else on the fire for as long as it got through--last week, Alcazar and this week, Måns Zelmerlöw. Both did, thank goodness. In results better than last week for me, though, the top four of Måns, H.E.A.T. (the other final qualifier), Amy Diamond, and Lili & Susie are probably just about the four songs I'm most likely to listen to, even if not necessarily in that order.
I'm still having trouble characterizing my feelings towards the semifinal as a whole. Song-wise, it felt more consistent for me than last week's, but also as if it was maybe missing out on the high highs to some degree. Medium highs? Yup, it had those. Me biting my lip with my hands clasped in front of me schlager-praying Måns made it through to the final? Of course. I'm just not sure that we got a true classic out of this semifinal, whereas I can easily see Alcazar's "Stay The Night" being just that for me.
Don't get me wrong: I'm dying for the studio version of Måns's song to come out and I'll probably play it incessantly and have loads of fun doing so. It could well turn out to have a lot more lasting power than I expect it to, and it's already a song I like--a song I love. It just feels a bit...light on the bottom for me. Does that make sense? I don't necessarily need depth in the sense of emotional depth in music (if it comes to that, I actually love the lyrics to "Hope & Glory"), but I'm left imagining would it would be like if the music itself had depth to it; to some degree "Hope & Glory" feels like it's bouncing along near the "top" so much (like the sort of thing you'd wave giant flags to crossed with cheesy marching) that it ends up feeling lighter as a result. This is just minor niggling, though, like the criticism you might give to A- work instead of the A+ you know the student's capable of. The song is still my easy favorite in the semifinal and at worst my second favorite song of the contest so far, with the potential for my opinion of it to improve and improve, something which it's absolutely done with further plays of the live version (to the extent that I may regret any reservations in the future). Måns is such a star, too. And does cartwheels!
(Have I mentioned on here yet that for something like a week now "Impossible," a track from his new album and the one he put the preview of on his site, has been for sale at Swedish-only digital music store Telia? I can't remember.)
The other final qualifier, rock band H.E.A.T., had a singer with a great voice. I wish their song had a little more impact to it, was catchier, but I liked them and it at the level I expected to. I don't know that I would have put them in my top two, but I was glad they were in the top four. Plus, you've got to love a group willing to play the game by using wind machines and putting their obviously best looking member (the drummer) shirtless on stage (and having the camera go back to him and pushing him to the front of the gropu when not performing whenever possible)
Lili & Susie and Amy's songs were both OK--maybe not as good as I was hoping for (though Lili & Susie's "Show Me Heaven" is the better of the two for me), but respectable entries.
All the sites I'd been reading had talked about their dislike for or problems with Markoolio's performance, but I was still surprised at how poorly the aimed-for humor of the staging came across. In theory, Dima Bilan's eccentric and over-the-top winning performance from last year as well as his earlier second place performance from 2006 should be prime fodder for satire that, even if the general public doesn't understand, is laughed at by Eurovision fans; heck, Sergey Lazarev and Dima managed to do so easily enough for a no budget short skit when they hosted an awards ceremony together (each mocking the other), even that would obviously never have sufficed as a Melodifestival performance. The execution here just didn't work.
Cookies 'N' Beans and Jennifer Brown both put in good performances of decent songs--songs I won't be in a rush to buy but am fine with. Ditto Lasse, I suppose.
The previews for this week's Melodifestival semifinal are up here.
I really don't know what to say or think; I need to hear all of each song (as well as see them performed). That's always true, sure, but it's especially so this week.
The outfits (see here, here, here, and here, for example) for Måns's performance do look great: Måns in a tux and the female dancers in sexy short short outfits.
In other news, I heard September's "Cry For You" on the radio (real American radio) today. It wasn't the first time, but all the previous times had been a while ago when the song had momentum and was rising up the charts, so hearing it now, after that time has passed, was a particularly nice surprise. If we're talking about September, Scandipop has an interview with her that gives us some interesting information about her UK release schedule and new songs from her; it's exactly what you'd hope would result from an interview by a true fan.
(I know the posts over the past few days have been short and original content-free; I'll be making up for that soon, I hope, so thank you for your patience!)
Help! With less than twelve hours left until we hear the first bit of "Hope & Glory" and with reports in about Måns's first set of rehearsals (though not the last one, which the press was strangely banned from), I can feel myself getting far more excited and nervous than someone who's never met the guy should be. I'm so desperate for the song to be good, for him to perform it well, and for him to get a good result that nothing I read is able to assuage my worries.
Let's just be honest and call it what it is: I'm a mess right now.
In news beyond that, I'm still cheering second most for Lili & Susie and Amy Diamond.
Sorry for the lack of posts over the past couple of days. Don't worry--you'll still have to put up with my overexcited screaming about Melodifestivalen in a few days. Speaking of which, Tobbe Ek of Aftonbladet reviewed the songs from this coming semifinal (I'm sure most of the other usual sources did, too, but it's all about knowing who's taste you can trust). Important points include:
-Lili & Susie's song is an '80's-style pop song in their style with the hook "Gimme gimme gimme, show me heaven." He likes the song and thinks it's catchy, but isn't quite as impressed as he wanted to be. -Lasse Lindh's song is what you'd expect from him and a likely radio hit even if it isn't a likely Melodifestival hit. -Jennifer Brown's song is mid-tempo and like Whitney Houston but without the high notes. -H.E.A.T.'s song is like the Poodles' past two entries. -Markoolio's ballad has a chorus hook with a melodic resemblence to Elton John's "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" from The Lion King. The song is comparable to Magnus Uggla's music. -Amy Diamond's song has forgettable verses but a chorus completely different from them, one he seems to like or at least think gives the song a good chance. The middle 8 has BWO-style "moaning" (I'm presuming "oh oh oh"-ing) and the title is repeated a lot. -Cookies 'n' Beans's song is a country-influenced ballad with a capella in the last chorus and one of the singers sounds like a young Dolly Parton. -Måns's song has a big opening which makes it harder to sing than "Cara Mia" was and is more like "Brother Oh Brother" than his earlier Melodifestivalen track (which is fine with me), as well as a little cooler than "Cara Mia." The chorus hook is "I'm still standing for hope and glory" and many people will be singing it. When you think the song's over, the chorus comes back for one more time "convince those who doubted up until then," according to Tobbe.
In the meantime, I just realized Lili & Susie's "Evelyn" is on YouTube. Had I realized this when I was doing my Melodifestival write-up, I definitely would have linked to it--it's a perfect dramatic '80's-style (though technically very early '90's, I think) rock ballad for pop lovers. My love for it is all Alexander's doing--the version he posted, from their greatest hits, is totally different from the version on album The Sisters, so without him I never would have become completely addicted to this song. Sadly, it's not embeddable, but go listen to it here. I've got no words for it as well as no illusions that people will love it as much as I do, but hopefully you'll at least enjoy it.
As with pretty much any semifinal, this coming Saturday's second Melodifestival semifinal brings with it some big names. As this past week showed, though, a big name won't necessarily get you through the competition.
As usual, this post is just intended to serve as a round-up of information already on the Internet; the credit for it goes to the sites below, which I am very much indebted to.
1.) Lili & Susie, "Show Me Heaven" (Susie Päivärinta/Calle Kindbom/Thomas G:son/Pär Lönn/Nestor Geli) Sister duo Lili & Susie had a number of hits in the late '80's and early '90's (when the sisters distinguished between themselves by wearing different colors of lipstick) and make their united comeback to the world of music with a song they describe as an updated version of their old sound. The songwriters (who include Susie; Calle Kindbom, who did Fame's "Give Me Your Love" among other songs; and Thomas G:son, a songwriter who usually makes schlager and who can be hit and miss, though maybe that stems from his willingness to ship songs that don't make it into Melodifestivalen to other countries' national finals) agree, calling "Show Me Heaven" longing '80's nostalgia with a strong chorus and clear melody. The song has also been described by the sisters as a little like a dance version of their earlier hit "Bara du och jag" (a fact I cheered at, since I love that song) with the happiness of "What's The Colour Of Love," another hit of theirs. "Show Me Heaven" is said by people who've heard it to be a great song, just what you could want from their comeback. This won't be the sisters' first time in the contest, though--they entered with "Okey Okey" in 1989.
A greatest hits album with three new tracks--"Show Me Heaven," "Tease Me," and one more--will be released March 18.
To watch: oh, this is tough--the duo had a number of great '80's pop hits. I personally tend to go with "Bara du och jag" as my favorite of theirs (though it depends on the day; right now I'm madly in love with "Evelyn," kind of a power ballad but with more movement to it), but "Oh Mama" (complete with Depeche Mode-type hook at some points) might go over better, so here's that instead.
Actually, you know what, here's the fantastic "Bara Du Och Jag," too. It's just a clip of the music video, only 1:25 in length, so it's not too much of a time commitment.
2.) Lasse Lindh & Band, "Jag ska slåss i dina kvarter!" (Lasse Lindh) Undeterred by the fact that the Melodifestival-voting public placed his subdued ballad "Du behöver aldrig mer vara rädd" sixth in its semifinal last year, singer-songwriter Lasse Lindh returns to Melodifestivalen with a song he describes as an in-your-face danceable track, the opposite of his last entry and the sort of song you open a concert with. He also says it's a classic Lasse song that is an attitude-filled fast indie-pop song which you're guaranteed to know the chorus of after one time.
To watch: his Melodifestival performance from last year of "Du behöver aldrig mer vara rädd"
3.) Jennifer Brown, "Never Been Here Before" (Jennifer Brown/Peter Kvint) Jennifer Brown is new to Melodifestivalen but hardly new to the Swedish music scene: she's been releasing albums since 1994. Her big breakthrough, though, was in 1999 with the album Vera and the quirky-but-serious soul-pop track "Tuesday Afternoon." Jennifer is the sort of singer who has won critical praise and not the typical Melodifestival singer (though she's been rumored to be in the contest in the past)--"poppy" isn't an adjective I'd really apply to her and she's an artist you wouldn't be surprised at all to hear jazz or cabaret influences from her in music--but she's also done at least a few great pop tracks over the years (like "Trouble In Mind").
"Never Been Here Before" is written by Jennifer and Peter Kvint, the man behind both of Andreas Johnson's recent solo entries, Andreas and Carola's "One Love," and Sebastian's "When The Night Comes Falling," among other songs. They describe it as the saddest song Burt Bacharach never wrote, and elsewhere it's been said to be a soul ballad and quiet, with an appropriately fairly sedate, emotional performance.
To watch: the music video for "Tuesday Afternoon"
4.) H.E.A.T., "1000 Miles" (Niklas Jarl/David Stenmarck) Rock group H.E.A.T. are new to Melodifestivalen and, with their appearance in it, will be introducing themselves to the mainstream Swedish music scene--they released an album in April, but I don't think they've registered on the average Swede's radar. Despite their image, from the very little I've heard of their own music, it's not full of heavy guitars; it's still rock, but it's "tamer" and with more of an emphasis on vocal melody than you might expect .
Speculation before the announcement of who would sing the track included the Poodles, who sang the demo according to Gylleneskor, so that might give us an idea of what to expect (though a later Gylleneskor article actually said that David's brother Martin Stenmarck sang the first demo but there was never talk of him doing it in the contest). "1000 Miles" is described by its writers as being in the '80's hard rock style, a song about love that is a mix of Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, and glam rock. It's been submitted to the contest three times previously without making it in, but the writers attribute its inclusion this year to Melodifestivalen now being more open to other genres.
To watch: the group performing a song of theirs, "Bring The Stars," live
5.) Markoolio, "Kärlekssång från mig" (Patrik Henzel/Karl Eurén/Marko Lehtosalo) Swedish comedic rapper Markoolio is marketed towards kids and isn't exactly what you would call popular or cool among older Swedes, and usually for a reason. His past two albums have at least had a couple of great tracks on them, though, the most notable being 2007's "Värsta Schlagern," a duet with Linda Bengtzing that parodied the formulaicness of the schlager style, describing each of the elements needed to make a schlager song. It used all those elements so successfully, though, that it actually ended up being a fantastic song and a big hit in Sweden, a rare feat for a schlager song that wasn't in Melodifestivalen (though the track was actually a Melodifestival reject).
"Kärlekssång från mig" may include several of the songwriters of "Värsta Schlagern" (who've worked with Markoolio on many other songs but who have separately been involved with Mendez's entries, B-Boys International and Paul M's "One Step Closer," and Verona's "La Musica"), but don't be expecting another fun up-tempo romp--the songwriters describe it as a ballad with a twist. Markoolio has said that the song and performance will include humorous lyrics, stripping, and him lying on the floor and crawling around (presumably mocking Dima Bilan), though with him, you can never tell if it's a joke or not. He's also said it's got humorous lyrics but he'll deliver it seriously...but said he won't say what's going on around him while he's singing.
To watch: the actually hilarious music video for "Värsta Schlagern"
6.) Amy Diamond, "It's My Life" (Alexander Bard/Bobby Ljunggren/Oscar Holter) Young singer Amy Diamond is met with dislike by a surprising number of Melodifestival fans, while I'm convinced she's got the potential to solidify herself as a great popstar as she grows up--I mean, she already gave us a Rachel Stevens Junior song in last year's Melodifestival! Amy, at sixteen, is four albums into her recording career. Many of her songs have a reggae-light beat to them, but if her last album is anything to judge by, she seems to be moving into a more pure electronic pop direction.
With a songwriter line-up like this one, there's every chance Amy's entry this year will be a great pop song, and maybe the one to win over some of those doubters. Alexander Bard is currently the main man behind BWO (though his pop credentials run further back than that and include Army of Lovers and Alcazar), Bobby Ljunggren is one of those common Melodifestival faces who is deservedly respected (as just a small indicator of that, all of the top three songs in last year's Melodifestival were co-written by him) but just has so many songs in the contest that his name alone isn't a foolproof guarantee of a great song, and Oscar Holter is most familiar to me through his sharp biting electro dance remixes (though apparently he also co-wrote Sanna Nielsen's "I Believe It's You"). They describe "It's My Life" as an uptempo and electro dance song with attitude. Amy says it's completely different from "Thank You" and different from her earlier work in general.
To watch: her performance of "Thank You" from last year's Melodifestival
7.) Cookies 'N' Beans, "What If" (Robin Abrahamsson/Amir Aly/Maciel Numhauser) Country trio Cookies 'N' Beans includes the lead singer of Oh Laura, who was also previously in Melodifestivalen as part of La Roxx in 2004. They've existed as a group since 2003, but didn't release their debut album, Tales From A Trailer Trash Soul, until 2007 (I've heard nothing from it and I don't think it made much of an impression outside of Sweden's country music scene, so this will be some big exposure for them). "What If" is said by its writers to be an expressive, dynamic song which takes hold and makes you want more. QX reported that the song is neither a ballad nor up-tempo and is similar to last year's "Visst finns mirakel" by Suzie Tapper (by these songwriters) from last year.
To watch: All YouTube turns up are some live performance videos, so here's one of a song called "Now It's Too Late" (I should mention, though, that some of their other songs are much more up-tempo)
8.) Måns Zelmerlöw, "Hope & Glory" (Fredrik Kempe/Måns Zelmerlöw/Henrik Wikström) The other half of the most poptastic couple currently in existence, Marie Serneholt's boyfriend is the act oddsmakers are expecting to win Melodifestivalen. After taking fifth in Idol and winning Let's Dance (the Swedish version of Strictly Come Dancing or Dancing With The Stars), Måns Zelmerlöw debuted to the Melodifestival world with the up-tempo pop anthem "Cara Mia" in 2007. Despite the song only making it into the contest after previously qualified songs were disqualified and Måns not yet being an established artist (it was his first single), he captured the public and the media's attention, qualifying straight to the final, taking third, and going on to have one of the biggest hits of the year in Sweden.
The former underdog now has a lot of expectations on his shoulders. In addition to the aforementioned odds of winning, just following up a beloved song like "Cara Mia" is going to be tough. Even if "Hope & Glory" is fantastic, it may suffer in some people's eyes from not being the new fresh sound that "Cara Mia" was; by now, Fredrik Kempe, the main songwriter, has already won the whole contest in 2008 with Charlotte Perrelli's "Hero," a song many people compared to "Cara Mia." Many of the reviews of "Hope & Glory" have even called it "Hero" Part Two and Måns himself has said it's an epic upgrade of "Cara Mia" (though elsewhere he's also said that, though "Hope & Glory" might have resembled "Hero" when it was a demo, it's now much more "him" and grander than "Hero" was and tried to distance the song from "Cara Mia" by saying that, though it has a great chorus like that song, "Hope & Glory" is a little dancier with a little more '70's-influenced key change). Will it be going back to the same well too many times?
Still, the song, described by its authors as a hopeful love anthem and a song everyone will remember after its first listen--one with some disco-schlager influences and a little bit of the '70's but still modern--and one Måns has said he'll be dancing to (though he's also dropped the interest contest that the lyrics, about how life is difficult and we have to fight and create our own hope and glory, are like fighting a war on stage), is one many fans of the contest are excitedly anticipating, and the fact that early reports say it's great surely isn't hurting at all.
An album, MZW, will be released on March 25. Måns worked with Fredrik Kempe and Ishi (Lazee, Petter) on it and describes it as schlager-R&B with big choruses and a good beat. You can get an early taste of one of the tracks, "Impossible," on Måns's website.
To watch: Måns's 2007 semifinal performance of "Cara Mia"
What I expect my favorites from this final to be: Måns Zelmerlöw, Amy Diamond, and Lili & Susie. What can I say? I love my up-tempo dance-friendly electronic pop. I'm open to liking all of them, though.
How has it taken me two days to realize that Måns Zelmerlöw uploaded a clip of a song from his new album (out March 25) on his recently redesigned and rebranded website (which I knew was coming but forgot about)?
It's of a song called "Impossible," which, besides "Hope & Glory," is the only song title I'd heard of for this album. It's mid-tempo, noticeably more R&B-influenced--well, I think by that all I mean is that he's used a Timbaland-style percussion beat. The parent album seems to be called MZW and Alexander was right when he speculated that the picture he posted was the cover. The single cover for "Hope & Glory" is just a close-up of that image.
Speaking of the redesign, Måns has apparently joined the world of blogging and Twitter.
I'm sorry, but this really is the BEST SONG EVER (if "ever" is taken to mean "during random late nights when I start to get slightly too giddy, especially with Melodifestivalen coming up, play songs, and think things are particularly amazing").
I think I remember reading somewhere--I can't be sure where, though my guess would by on Schlagerprofilerna or its earlier incarnation (it could just as easily have been somewhere else, though...maybe Aftonbladet, come to think of it?)--that in all his prior rehearsals, he didn't really nail the singing, especially that key change. The moment it mattered, though, in that first semifinal, he got it.
I've often wondered what would have happened if he hadn't. Another shaky performance could have left him just another footnote in the Melodifestival history books. As I said at the time and Rick mentioned Monday, he wasn't even quite as on during his performance at the final, but by then, the hype and love had built and it was fine enough to take him to a third place finish.
Things could easily have gone differently. Sure, Måns had been on Idol, but he finished fifth, and sure, he'd won Let's Dance, but he didn't have the huge fanbase going into the contest to make him a sure thing to progress forward, let alone make it directly to the final. "Cara Mia" originally didn't even make it into Melodifestivalen, only being included once two other songs were disqualified. Songwriter Fredrik Kempe had appeared in the contest twice before and had his own musical career, but he wasn't known, expected, and honored in a Melodifestival context like he is now; before 2007, those two songs he'd performed in the contest were the only two he'd ever had in it. Of his three songs in 2007, one finished eighth (last) in its semifinal after its singer's illness had its effect on her voice. The other singer with a Kempe track was Sanna Nielsen, an established Melodifestival performer and talented singer who, though not incredibly successful outside the contest, had made it to the finals in all three of her previous entrances (to be fair, her first time entering there were no semifinals, but she finished third then). She had to fight her way to the final via the second chance round after originally taking fourth in her semifinal.
In other words, neither Måns's name or having a Kempe track behind him was enough that he could have just showed up and walked his way into the final--I'm pretty sure that, great as the song is, a poorly staged or poorly sung performance of it would have sunk his chances. He was extraordinarily lucky to get a song of the quality of "Cara Mia." This we all know. He was just as lucky, though, that his one "nailed it" performance was his actual performance during that semifinal.
None of this is to question his ability to sing live now--as we've seen with Linda Bengtzing, a few years can make a world of difference--or even necessarily then, nor, for that matter, to question his developing ability as a songwriter. I'm hoping desperately, though, that not all the training he's doing is in the gym.
(You know, in some alternate universe there's a version of me--a me that was never exposed to Swedish pop, never got hooked on Melodifestivalen, maybe even never fully admitted to liking music and so never saw her narrow range of taste expand--that would hear this song and completely brush it off, maybe say it was "eh" at best. I wouldn't trade places with her for anything.)
Vitally important information: the new Måns Zelmerlöw album comes out on March 25.
(Information credit to QX, which has some other interesting information about participants and albums; photo (c) Peter Knutson, also in QX.)
He's the main writer for the songs, worked with Fredrik Kempe and Eshraque "Ishi" Mughal (who's worked with Swedish rappers Lazee and Petter), and describes the sound as kind of like schlager-R&B, big choruses with a good beat.
Don't panic at the R&B part, everyone. It'll probably all be fine. I mean, even if rap's not your thing, just listen to the beats behind the songs Lazee's written or produced; some sharp crisp electro-R&B like that would absolutely be an interesting thing for Måns to be playing with. It's not Ishi's first working with a pop artist either--he did Darin's "Everything I'm Not."
Måns mentioned earlier on that he'd done another track with Kempe he considered submitting to Melodifestivalen, a giant ballad with a French march beat, so I expect that's on the album, too.
He's already done a photoshoot for the album and single, though I don't know whether it's guaranteed that shots from it will be used for both or either or in what capacity. It involved him in various sorts of semi-formal (button up shirt, button up shirt with tie) to formal (tuxedo) dress and lots of smoke (the photo in this post, though, is, as I said, from QX).
As with the past two years, I'm planning on doing a preview/run-down of each week's semifinal the Sunday beforehand, so that'll be starting...this Sunday! Wow, can it really be almost here already?
Speaking of releases, the cover art for a couple of the singles is out now--I've only seen BWO and Rigo's, but there may be more.
Am I ever going to stop writing about Melodifestivalen? No, probably not.
In interviews with QX, the first eight artists announced gave us a little more information about their songs.
Alcazar talked about "Stay The Night," with Tess saying it sounds like a combination of songs Alcazar have done earlier, with Andreas saying that it reminded him a little bit of "Knock On Wood."
BWO say they noticed that modern dramatic ballads do well, so presumably that's what they think "You're Not Alone" is. Apparently it's a song that shows off Martin's singing and they say it's this year's "Empty Room" and "Believe" (great...).
Måns Zelmerlöw says "Hope & Glory" is an upgrade of "Cara Mia," big and grand. He also reveals that there was another song he worked on with Fredrik Kempe and considered sending, a megaballad in a French march tempo, but (and this is why you have to love Måns) he decided that he "had to get to dance" or he would be "boring" otherwise. He hasn't sent in songs he's written to any other country yet (a song he co-wrote was in Romania's nationa final this year), but he has enough that he can and (probably) will.
I haven't mentioned this in a blog post yet, but the fact that Markoolio is the first joker announced has been discussed in the comments. Markoolio's song, "Kärlekssång från mig," is described, as Melodiment pointed out, as a ballad with a twist (and funny lyrics) and is from the writers of not just some of Markoolio's own songs (like "Värsta Schlagern") but also of 2005's B-Boys International and Paul M's "One Step Closer" and 2007's Verona's "La Musica." Damian pointed out an article in which Markoolio says there will be strippers, with Markoolio lying on the ground and crawling around. Speaking of Markoolio, I want to take another opportunity to praise "Emma, Emma" from his last album. It may have kind of cringeworthy lyrics, but if "Värsta Schlagern" was Markoolio doing a parody of schlager but actually making a brilliant schlager song with a lot of help from a female singer, "Emma, Emma" is the techno/Eurodance equivalent of it. All three of my preferred tracks from that album involved Markoolio being smart enough to delegate a lot of the hook duties and actual good parts of the song to a female singer, so it'll be interesting to see if he does that at all with "Kärlekssång från mig." I'm not counting on it, though.
With three joker spots left, the names being mentioned again and again are Marie Serneholt (would love her to be back with any music period, so a big yes from me), Orup, Darin (love him, obviously, but I'm not sure that I want him in Melodifestivalen), EMD, and Lutricia McNeal.
As Schlager Queen and Gylleneskor (among others) both reported, dansband Lasse Stefanz have declined to sing "Den Första Kyssen;" as they're the demo artists, if they refuse to sing the song, SVT has an option to disqualify the song entirely if they don't feel they can find anyone else they want to sing it. If that happens, another song--one of the ones that just missed the cut--would be chosen to replace it. In 2007, Måns's "Cara Mia" and Lustans Lakejer's "Allt vi en gång trodde på" were replacements, so you could potentially get something good out of a disqualification...then again, the current song could be great. The lists of the finalists (the songs chosen and those that just missed out) and the top 116 are posted on SVT's site (as PDFs--the former is here and the latter is here). I love going through in the months afterward and trying to figure out what songs released were Melodifestivalen rejects (I've got some list somewhere I should go find and see if anyone can add onto), so, though it's a bit early to do that with these lists, they may provide some entertainment in the future.
I should just edit this information into the previous post, but it's Melodifestivalen, so it gets a pass. SVT also released a little description of each of the eight songs whose artists were confirmed today (and I've added in some descriptions from an earlier post). More importantly, though: (some) new pictures (all credit to SVT)!
Alcazar, "Stay The Night" (Anders Hansson/Mårten Sandén/Andreas Lundstedt/Tess Merkel/Lina Hedlund): good party track with odd harmonies. QX earlier reported that the song is a modern pop track in the style of the music Alcazar is doing now. Incidentally, supposedly their album is coming "shortly," whatever that means.
BWO, "You're Not Alone" (Fredrik Kempe/Alexander Bard/Anders Hansson): a dramatic electro-gospel ballad
Caroline af Ugglas, "Snälla Snälla" (Caroline af Ugglas/Heniz Liljedahl): a typical Caroline track and a ballad
Emilia, "You're My World" (Emilia Rydberg/Fredrik Figge Bodström): "a tribute to those we love and the warmth they give us"
Jennifer Brown, "Never Been Here Before" (Jennifer Brown/Peter Kvint): the saddest track Burt Bacharach never wrote. QX earlier described it as a soul ballad.
Lasse Lindh, "Jag Slåss I Dina Kvarter!" (Lasse Lindh): an in-your-face danceable track
(Look, that's the picture SVT chose--don't blame me if you wanted to see more! They did give us this, too:
if that helps at all) Måns Zelmerlöw, "Hope & Glory" (Fredrik Kempe/Måns Zelmerlöw/Henrik Wikström): a hopeful love anthem and a track everyone will remember after the first listen. Musically a continuation and development of Måns's earlier hits. QX earlier wrote that the song is said to be a strong, modern pop track.
(That photo's obviously taken from Sarah's own latest promo session--she's got a new single out soon.)
Sarah Dawn Finer, "Moving On" (Sarah Dawn Finer/Fredrik Kempe): a dynamic, dramatic, beautiful, epic, big, strong song that is hopeful, but with a little bit of sadness. QX earlier reported that the song is a powerful ballad totally different from "I Remember Love."
More pictures? You didn't ask for more? Too bad, you're getting them anyway.
BWO! And they've "gone ballad" on us. Watch them finally win (though it may be a brilliant ballad--who knows?).
Alcazar!
Emilia and Måns
Måns!
Lovely Jennifer Brown.
Also, it's worth noting these people are not all in the same semi--just all in Melodifestivalen. We'll find out one joker tomorrow.
(If anything could draw me out of Circus-land, you just knew it would be Sweden, right?)
Proving (!) that I'm not absolutely obsessed, here--a half month after its debut--is a performance (in shady quality) of another track from Darin's new album. It's called "Strobelight" and is the urban/clubby track we heard David Jassy working on it that "Making of Flashback" video.
In other Swedish music news--and as Troy and Scandipop already wrote about--eight of the Melodifestival artists were confirmed today. No surprises, but hey, it's nice to know for sure that these artists are doing it.
1.) Måns Zelmerlöw, "Hope & Glory" 2.) Lasse Lindh & Band, "Jag ska slåss i dina kvarter" 3.) Sarah Dawn Finer, "Moving On" 4.) Jennifer Brown, "Never Been Here Before" 5.) Caroline af Ugglas, "Snälla snälla" 6.) Alcazar, "Stay The Night" 7.) Emilia, "You're My World" 8.) BWO, "It's My Life"
I just noticed that you can stream many of the Dolly Rockers' songs on Last.fm, including, most importantly, the studio version of "How Did I End Up With You" (or "How Did I End Up With U?" or "How Did I End Up With You?" or "How Did I End Up With U"--Last.fm-concerned me is suffering). While you're there, if you've not listened to them before, give "Gold Digger" a try, too; their debut single, "Je Suis Une Dolly," is good, too, but it has a much more "novelty single" sound. In other news about the British girl group, the picture on Popjustice from a photoshoot with them looks great.
Speaking of things you lovers of poppy dance music from Scandinavia are likely to enjoy, I'm so grateful to Scandipop for pointing us all in the direction of Friðrik Ómar's (a.k.a. the male half of Eurobandið and the singer of "Eldur," the second best song in Iceland's 2007 national final) "I Wanna Know." It's another Örlygur "Öggi" Smári (the man behind Páll Óskar's comeback and Eurobandið's "This Is My Life") creation and, though not quite as great as "This Is My Life," it is definitely enjoyable; it also seeks a different vibe, less celebratory and more pensive, saddened but hopeful dance. Listen to it on his MySpace.
